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About presidents grovercleveland
ABOUT THE WHITE HOUSE * PRESIDENTS OUR PRESIDENTS about_presidents_georgewashington 1. George Washington about_presidents_johnadams 2. John Adams about_presidents_thomasjefferson 3. Thomas Jefferson about_presidents_jamesmadison 4. James Madison about_presidents_jamesmonroe 5. James Monroe about_presidents_johnquincyadams 6. John Quincy Adams about_presidents_andrewjackson 7. Andrew Jackson about_presidents_martinvanburen 8. Martin Van Buren about_presidents_williamhenryharrison 9. William Henry Harrison about_presidents_johntyler 10. John Tyler about_presidents_jamespolk 11. James K. Polk about_presidents_zacharytaylor 12. Zachary Taylor about_presidents_millardfillmore 13. Millard Fillmore about_presidents_franklinpierce 14. Franklin Pierce about_presidents_jamesbuchanan 15. James Buchanan about_presidents_abrahamlincoln 16. Abraham Lincoln about_presidents_andrewjohnson 17. Andrew Johnson about_presidents_ulyssessgrant 18. Ulysses S. Grant about_presidents_rutherfordbhayes 19. Rutherford B. Hayes about_presidents_jamesgarfield 20. James Garfield about_presidents_chesterarthur 21. Chester A. Arthur about_presidents_grovercleveland 22. Grover Cleveland about_presidents_benjaminharrison 23. Benjamin Harrison about_presidents_grovercleveland 24. Grover Cleveland about_presidents_williammckinley 25. William McKinley about_presidents_theodoreroosevelt 26. Theodore Roosevelt about_presidents_williamhowardtaft 27. William Howard Taft about_presidents_woodrowwilson 28. Woodrow Wilson about_presidents_warrenharding 29. Warren G. Harding about_presidents_calvincoolidge 30. Calvin Coolidge about_presidents_herberthoover 31. Herbert Hoover about_presidents_franklindroosevelt 32. Franklin D. Roosevelt about_presidents_harrystruman 33. Harry S. Truman about_presidents_dwightdeisenhower 34. Dwight D. Eisenhower about_presidents_johnfkennedy 35. John F. Kennedy about_presidents_lyndonjohnson 36. Lyndon B. Johnson about_presidents_richardnixon 37. Richard M. Nixon about_presidents_geraldford 38. Gerald R. Ford about_presidents_jimmycarter 39. James Carter about_presidents_ronaldreagan 40. Ronald Reagan about_presidents_georgehwbush 41. George H. W. Bush about_presidents_williamjclinton 42. William J. Clinton about_presidents_georgewbush 43. George W. Bush administration_president_obama 44. Barack Obama [ of Grover Cleveland ] 22. & 24. GROVER CLEVELAND 1885-1889, 1893-1897 The First Democrat elected after the Civil War, Grover Cleveland was the only President to leave the White House and return for a second term four years later. One of nine children of a Presbyterian minister, Cleveland was born in New Jersey in 1837. He was raised in upstate New York. As a lawyer in Buffalo, he became notable for his single-minded concentration upon whatever task faced him. At 44, he emerged into a political prominence that carried him to the White House in three years. Running as a reformer, he was elected Mayor of Buffalo in 1881, and later, Governor of New York. Cleveland won the Presidency with the combined support of Democrats and reform Republicans, the "Mugwumps," who disliked the record of his opponent James G. Blaine of Maine. A bachelor, Cleveland was ill at ease at first with all the comforts of the White House. "I must go to dinner," he wrote a friend, "but I wish it was to eat a pickled herring a Swiss cheese and a chop at Louis' instead of the French stuff I shall find." In June 1886 Cleveland married 21-year-old Frances Folsom; he was the only President married in the White House. Cleveland vigorously pursued a policy barring special favors to any economic group. Vetoing a bill to appropriate $10,000 to distribute seed grain among drought-stricken farmers in Texas, he wrote: "Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character. . . . " He also vetoed many private pension bills to Civil War veterans whose claims were fraudulent. When Congress, pressured by the Grand Army of the Republic, passed a bill granting pensions for disabilities not caused by military service, Cleveland vetoed it, too. He angered the railroads by ordering an investigation of western lands they held by Government grant. He forced them to return 81,000,000 acres. He also signed the Interstate Commerce Act, the first law attempting Federal regulation of the railroads. In December 1887 he called on Congress to reduce high protective tariffs. Told that he had given Republicans an effective issue for the campaign of 1888, he retorted, "What is the use of being elected or re-elected unless you stand for something?" But Cleveland was defeated in 1888; although he won a larger popular majority than the Republican candidate Benjamin Harrison, he received fewer electoral votes. Elected again in 1892, Cleveland faced an acute depression. He dealt directly with the Treasury crisis rather than with business failures, farm mortgage foreclosures, and unemployment. He obtained repeal of the mildly inflationary Sherman Silver Purchase Act and, with the aid of Wall Street, maintained the Treasury's gold reserve. When railroad strikers in Chicago violated an injunction, Cleveland sent Federal troops to enforce it. "If it takes the entire army and navy of the United States to deliver a post card in Chicago," he thundered, "that card will be delivered." Cleveland's blunt treatment of the railroad strikers stirred the pride of many Americans. So did the vigorous way in which he forced Great Britain to accept arbitration of a disputed boundary in Venezuela. But his policies during the depression were generally unpopular. His party deserted him and nominated William Jennings Bryan in 1896. After leaving the White House, Cleveland lived in retirement in Princeton, New Jersey. He died in 1908. MD5: 7a714db788e8a1c5c8cf2e4abfd5b184 Original URL: http://whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/grovercleveland/